The euphoria of Argentina’s opening World Cup qualifying win over Chile vanished at a stroke on Tuesday as the two-time world champions slumped to an historic 1-0 loss to Venezuela. Fernando Amorebieta bagged the only goal to stun Alejandro Sabella’s side and send them back to square one, just when it seemed Friday’s 4-1 thrashing of Chile had exorcised demons of a summer Copa America failure on home soil. After the Chile game, Sabella, who replaced Sergio Batista in the wake of a Copa quarter-final loss to eventual champions Uruguay, had ventured that the team had laid to rest an “apparent collective psychosis” regarding how Lionel Messi fits into the national team. Last Friday, Barcelona wizard Messi had shone as brightly as ever in the national shirt, scoring one and laying on another for Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuain. But that was Buenos Aires.
Argentina now trail Uruguay, who conceded a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw against Paraguay, the side they defeated 3-0 in the Copa final. Veteran Uruguay forward Diego Forlan netted his 32nd goal in the national shirt midway through the second half to move beyond the mark he previously shared with 1920s and 1930s hero Hector Scarone. But in a dramatic finale, Richard Ortiz snatched the equaliser with seconds of injury time remaining. “It was intense and there weren’t many chances,” said Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez, whose men now top the group by a point and who next host Chile. But he added that “every point is a step nearer the goal” of qualifying as one of the best four sides in the group, this time shorn of already-qualified 2014 hosts Brazil. The team finishing fifth can also qualify via the play-offs. Elsewhere on Tuesday, Colombia edged out Bolivia 2-1 in La Paz courtesy of a late goal from Atletico Madrid’s Radamel Falcao, who had only come on 12 minutes earlier in place of Teofilo Gutierrez. In the other game, Chile beat Peru 4-2 in an entertaining encounter, with Waldo Ponce, Eduardo Vargas, Gary Medel and Humberto Suazo on target for Chile, while Claudio Pizarro and Jefferson netted consolations for Peru.
